Italian activist elected to European Parliament freed in Hungary
ROME — An Italian anti-fascist activist was released from house arrest in Hungary on Friday after being elected as a new member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green and Left Alliance, the party's leaders said.
Police in Budapest removed Ilaria Salis' electronic bracelet in the Hungarian capital and her father said he will take her back to Italy by Monday, when she celebrates her 40th birthday, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Salis was elected to the European Parliament during her time under house arrest in Hungary, where she is on trial and faces charges for allegedly assaulting far-right demonstrators. European Parliament lawmakers enjoy substantial legal immunity from prosecution, even if the allegations relate to crimes committed prior to their election.
More than 170,000 voters in Italy wrote Salis' name onto the ballot in a bid to bring her home from Hungary, where she has been detained for more than a year.
"Finally! We are happy with the news coming from Budapest, MEP Ilaria Salis can now return to Italy and will be able to perform her new function to which hundreds of thousands of voters have pointed her," AVS lawmakers Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni said in a statement.
Salis became a hot-button political issue in Italy after images emerged of her handcuffed and shackled in a Hungarian courtroom where she faced trial.
The Italian activist was charged in Hungary with attempted murder after being part of a group of anti-fascists accused of assaulting individuals they believed were linked to the far-right Day of Honor last year.
The event, held annually on February 11, sees far-right activists mark the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army's siege in 1945.
The alleged victims of the attack reportedly didn't complain to police.
Before the European Parliament election earlier this month, Salis' father repeatedly voiced concerns over his daughter's trial, saying she faced up to 24 years in jail. The Hungarian prosecutor had asked for a prison term of 11 years.